It's depressing to think that this recent half-random half-stupid-keyword-revenge firing spree is going to cost much more than it ever "saves", since it is destroying the intangible reputation of the federal government as a stable employer, which was used to defray wages.

In other words, the federal government will have to raise wages to get qualified candidates in competition with private-sector jobs, probably costing more money in the long term.

These are all consequences of the choices of the American people over last years. Choices do have consequences; we need to understand them and explain them to others, one way or another. Reality is helping us with that.

Reality is not helping. An alarming percentage of people in the USA are extremely insulated from reality. They are even insulated from pure logic. For a great many people it seems completely consistent to say that the federal government is a swamp of corruption and bureaucracy that requires drastic action to bring it back in check, then also say that we should do whatever it takes to put the management of the Panama Canal back into the hands of that same government.

I just listened to Trump say, "You're playing cards with the lives of millions of people. You're playing cards with WWIII. I am forcing you to play cards because you made a campaign appearance for a different candidate." I was dumbfounded. Then I looked around at all the people nodding their heads and saying, "Right on!"

Some people think that "reality" TV is reality. And some people think that reality is just another TV show. What a world when you put the word "real" in front of the word "reality" to try to differentiate it: real reality. The spinning top trick doesn't work.

Reality cannot not to help. Reality is objective. Ignoring reality means making worse decisions. People will try to make best - for them - decisions, and the results will be worse because reality is changing, as a consequence of the choice made. It will just take some time, but some are putting a lot of efforts to reduce the time until easily visible - and felt - changes.